Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective, Volume 1

"Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective will surprise some, shock others, and unleash a flood of speculation about what has happened to James Gustafson. The answer quite simply is nothing has happened to Gustafson except that he has now turned his attention to developing his constructive theological position, and we should all be very glad. . . . In this, the first of two volumes, Gustafson displays his colors as a constructive theologian, and they are indeed brilliant and splendid. . . . Though Gustafson is a theologian who works in the Christian tradition, he reminds us that the God Christians worship is not merely the Christian God. For Gustafson the kind of God who is the object of the theologians's reflection eludes or surpasses the inevitably confessional activity of Christian theological reflection. Thus Gustafson, the constructive theologian, is also Gustafson the revisionist theologian who takes as his task nothing less than challenging the anthropocentrism that he alleges characterizes mainstream Western Christian theology."—Stanley Hauerwas, Journal of Religion

Preface 1. An Interpretation of Our Culture Some Aspects of Our Culture Some Aspects of Religion Religious Studies The Theological Scene Preoccupation with Theological Method Christian Ethics Philosophical Ethics Conclusions 2. Theocentric Ethics: Is It Ethics in the Traditional Sense? The Central Reference Point: Man or God? A Moral Pause A Religious and Theological Pause Conclusions 3. Convictions and Procedures: An Interlude Convictions: The Priority of Human Experience Convictions: Religion, "Others," and the "Other" Procedures: Theological Tradition and Development Concluding Reflections 4. A Preferance for the Reformed Tradition Theology as a Way of Construing the World The Reformed Tradition Problematics in the Reformed Tradition Conclusions 5. God in Relation to Man and the World I. Religion The Use of Terms "Nonreligious" Experiences and Their Religious Significance Nature History Culture Society The Self The Religious Construal of the Affections and Their Object II. God God as Creator God as Sustainer and Governor God as Judge God as Redeemer The Use of Scientific Explanations in the Retrieval and Reconstruction of Theology 6. Man in Relation to God and the World "Natural Man" The "Human Fault" The Correction The Christian Religious Context 7. Moral Life in Theocentric Perspective Index